Someone To Live For
by eriksxgal
Summary: AU: / It is 1942 Poland, and Elizabeth Schuyler escapes the Krakow ghetto and is taken into hiding by Alexander Hamilton. The war is at it's peak, the Nazis are cruel, and will stop at nothing to get what they want. Who will turn against who? Who will find love, and who will face loss? Chaos, destruction, fear, loss, and romance ensue. / ABANDONED!
1. To Escape

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Hamilton. All rights go to Lin-Manuel Miranda.**

 **Eliza POV**

Eliza was so scared, she feared she would collapse. Collapse, in the middle of the street, and then the Nazis would find her shoot her, and just leave her body in the middle of the street to rot. Nobody would care. She had nobody left to live for. Nobody was left to live for her. Life was pointless. And yet still, she continued to run through the streets and alleyways of Krakow.

Every time he left foot hit the pavement her foot seemed one step closer to falling off. She was running on glass shards, sharp stones, and branches. It seemed as if her life couldn't get any worse.

She was lucky, she realized. She had been sorting through clothes, her job in the ghetto. It was disgusting really. The clothes had bloodstains, vomit stains, urine stains. These clothes were not the clothes that were being sent to be washed, and to German citizens.

These were the clothes that were not going to be washed, and sent to the other residents of the ghetto. Residents who had been forced out of their homes so quickly and forcefully, that they hadn't even had time to grab a spare jacket or pair of trousers. It was always awful to see a young girl or boy walking around the streets with a urine stain on the front of their blouse.

Eliza had heard a shout from across the street, and looked up. She had seen a line of people come out of the first apartment building near the wall, being lead at gunpoint by a Nazi officer. And then another line. And another. Hundreds of people leaving the gates of the ghetto. This definitely wasn't the regular protocol of people walking to their job at the factory on the other side of town. This was... And then it hit her. _Deportation. Death camps. Everyone._

She had heard rumours of this happening from the people who she shared her flat with. Eliza had dismissed these stories as nonsense, stories that people just spread around to pass the time and cause a stir.

But now, as she thought about it more, the words came back to her, their words haunting and extremely eerie. She saw the faces of her flat partners, some had eyes wide with fear, and others, like herself had rolled their eyes and shrugged it off. But as Eliza heard the terrified screams and gunshots ringing out, she knew that everything was true. All of the rumours and stories that she had scoffed at were now a living nightmare.

 _Chana came rushing in to the flat, eyes wide with fear, auburn hair a mess, panting out of breath._

" _You'll never guess what I just heard!" She exclaimed far too loudly. She slammed the door, which rattled the thin floorboards, creaking loudly. Rosa shot up from her spot on the floor and stomped over towards Chana. She was a scary thing, Rosa. Blood-shot eyes, crazy thin gray hair spiking up every which way, and she seemed to be even skinnier than the rest of us, if that was even possible._

" _You stupid, stupid girl!" She whisper-yelled. "Do you want 'em to stomp on over here and blow your brains out?" she stated harshly and she shook Chana's shoulders. "Oi! Hands off the poor girl," Alfred said. He was the only one Rosa would listen to. He was a huge lug, terrifying to oppose._

" _Let's hear what 'cha gots to say Chana!" Perla excitedly whispered. She didn't seem the like, but she was a huge gossip. Eliza had always hated the way that they talked, not using proper grammar and such, but she wasn't going to say anything, so she just had to bare it._

 _Chana, still out of breath then recounted her story. "So, I was down at the factory, doin' my duties, when the two lads next to me start chatting up a storm. I say to myself, they shouldn't be talkin', they gon get shot now, but still they keep talkin' up a storm."_

 _Then one of the guys says, "We gots to be on the lookout now, they gon' round us up and send us to the death camps, out in the country." The other says, "Oh yeah I heard about them death camps, puttin' u on trains and shipping us off. I mean, hey, there's probably at least space to breathe out in the country, not packed up in here like a can a sardines, am I right?"_

 _Then they both burst out laughing, the soldier there screams and waves his gun, then they shut up. Crazy right?" She finally finished her story._

" _Ooh Chana, do you think it's true?" pressed Perla. "I mean it's pretty scary an' all, but wow, what a great story. I'll have to tell the girls we trade with, they won't believe it!"_

 _Eliza spoke. This was all so annoying. "Why must you spread a pack of lies like wildfire? It's stupid, and if the soldiers ever find out what you're talking about, they will kill you on the spot. Do you want that?"_

" _Wow. She speaks." Said Debora, the eldest of the group, laughing._

Oops. _Eliza hadn't even realized that she was speaking until after she had finished. Perla looked as though she wanted to kill Eliza. She was used to being babied by everyone in the flat so this was a surprise. She flipped her extremely dirty hair, sending dirt and dust flying everywhere around the already filthy flat. "At least_ I _have some value of courage to speak up once in a while." She spoke, her voice roaring with fury, icy eyes narrowing._

" _At least_ I _don't have to spread gossip to get attention. This is absolutely ridiculous." Eliza muttered. She rolled her eyes, walked into the room where the children were sleeping, closed the door, sat down on the floor, and tried very, very hard not to think._

 _She heard a shout from Chana, "You're just mad that you didn't hear it first!"_

 _Eliza put her hands over her ears and drifted off into a restless sleep._

Every time Eliza's foot hit the pavement, she hated the Nazi even more than she thought possible. She wished that she would have thought to be just a little bit quieter when making her escape. After she had seen the fourth line of distressed, panicking people walk out the gates, she knew that they would be coming for her sooner or later so she had to think quickly. No, she didn't have to rescue anyone. She didn't care about anyone here. _Anymore._ She choked back a sob.

She had to consider her options. She could either wait here, let them take her, and be sent to a death camp, she could wait until they came to take her, resist, and then be shot, or she could escape. The latter sounded like the best option, but now was the tricky part. How? How was she going to escape? There was an officer who was standing right next to her, so this definitely complicated matters. She knew from trading experiences that there was a hole in the wall just big enough for a very skinny twenty-year-old right behind her, so Eliza just had to find a way for him to not be focused on her.

She continued to sort the distasteful clothing while five more lines of people continued to walk by. Eliza was panicking now, and she couldn't get a whistling sound out of her head. It was so obnoxious. _Wait._ That sound was coming from a small boy walking down the sidewalk just coming into her view, oblivious that there was a Nazi right beside Eliza. The Nazi yelled at the boy, "Hör auf diesen schrecklichen Klang!" And to Eliza's horror, went to the child, and started beating him with the butt of his gun. Eliza knew it then. The Nazi's back was to her, so this was her chance! As much as she didn't want to leave the child, there was nothing she could do to help him.

So she turned and ran for the wall. She pushed her head through the wall, and then her torso. She almost had her legs through when she heard fast footsteps, and the Nazi screaming, "Stoppen Sie dummes Mädchen!" Eliza panicked, for he was dangerously close now, but she had pulled her right leg through. He was close enough to wrap his meaty hands around her left ankle, and started to pull her back through.

He was stronger than her, so she knew that he would be able to pull her back, so she did the only thing she could think of. She kicked her leg as hard as she could, felt het foot connect with something, and then heard a crushing sound followed but a grunt of pain. She felt the hands loosen, and pulled her leg through. In a last effort to pull her back, the Nazi reached for her foot, but the only thing he received in return was Eliza's shoe which fell off her foot as she pulled it through.

Eliza collapsed in a heap on the other side of the wall, gasping and panting for breath, shaken almost to her very core. That could have and still could end very badly for her. That snapped her brain into focus. She needed to get out of there. She got up, and started running. She heard boots stomping near the entrance of the gate and shouts in German. She had to move fast. She ran along the wall of the massive ghetto, fumbling as she ran. She started to get tired after running almost halfway down the wall, but she refused to stop. Stopping would be giving up.

She persisted, throat burning, legs aching, heart pounding, both with fear and also with effort. She reached the end of the ghetto wall and ducked into an alleyway between two flat buildings. She wanted to stop, she was so tired and scared, but she had to keep going. She ran through alleyway after alleyway, deserted street after deserted street, and ducked into and out of smashed windows and missing doorways to hide.

Eliza had travelled at least five kilometers on foot, and now, instead of deserted flat buildings, she was travelling through the farmland of Krakow. On one hand, this was good, because she had gotten far enough away from the ghetto that there sometimes weren't always Nazis running around with bloodhounds. But on the other hand, it meant that now there was next to nowhere to hide when they drove by in their trucks. _Sometimes_. She stressed to herself.

She was walking down the street, looking at an old flour mill far in the distance. She then heard the distinct sound of a car approaching from a distance. Now, she really had to think quickly. She swooped her head around wildly, looking for any place at all to take cover. The mill was too far ahead to run to in this amount of time, and all around her was nothing but farmlands, grass, and a ditch. Farmlands, grass… _and a ditch!_ She sprinted over to the ditch, not thinking about anything like poisonous bugs, or snakes, which before this, usually would've been the first thing on her mind. She arrived at the ditch, and threw herself to the ground just as the truck drove by. Eliza tried to make herself as small as possible, and even held her breath. As soon as the truck passed and was out of sight, she slowly got up, inspecting the area around her before fully standing up and climbing out of the ditch.

She looked down at herself and saw that her gray clothes were now caked in dark brown, cold, mushy mud. _Great._ She thought to herself. As Eliza continued to walk down the road, closer towards the mill, the cars started coming more and frequently, and Eliza continued to throw herself in the ditch.

Eliza truly panicked though, when a Nazi stopped the car where she had first thrown herself in the ditch, and leaned over to inspect. He seemed to be catching on to her. But how? He drove the car away then, back to the ghetto, she assumed. She climbed out of the ditch and looked behind her. Stopping every time that she had thrown herself in the massive ditch, was a trail of dark brown footprints. And the officer she realized, had gone back to get others. Others to find her. She pushed herself up and out of the ditch, sprinting to the flour mill. There was a large house next to the mill, and she prayed that the people there would take pity on her.

She ran up the steps leading to the door, and knocked hard and fast. She waited five long seconds with no indication that anyone was coming to get the door so she knocked again. Loud and fast. The door opened, and she jumped. A large man opened the door a crack, his cold eyes unwelcoming, and his grimace apparent on his face. Eliza gulped. She didn't know what exactly to expect, but it wasn't this.

"Hello sir, I am so sorry to intrude but I am begging you, I am in dire need of help, if I could just speak to you inside for a momen-"

She was cut off quickly but his low, gravelly terrifying voice. "I don't take in strangers off the street. Get off my porch. Now."

Eliza begged. "Please sir, I just escaped from the ghetto.. and they're coming for me.. I.. please just for a few moments… to hide me.."

He yelled now. "I will not allow stupid Jewish filth inside my house! Get away!" She was crying now. "Please sir.. they'll… they'll kill me.. please…"

He was screaming. "AND THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER WITHOUT YOU! GET OUT OR THEY'LL BE HERE BY THE TRUCKLOAD TO PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"

Eliza was terrified. She ran off the steps and heard the door slam and lock. She ran into the middle of the street, looking for a suitable place to hide, when she saw three German trucks come speeding down the road. Eliza froze. This is where she would die. She knew it. She wasn't in the truck's line of sight yet, but in about ten seconds she would be. She closed her eyes and waited for death.

"Hey!" Called a voice from over her shoulder. She whipped her head around, expecting the terrifying old man, but instead was greeted by a young face, standing by the door of the mill. "Get over here!" He yelled. "Do you want to survive or not?"

He was holding the door of the mill open and beckoning her over. Eliza didn't have to be told twice. She ran towards the man and into the mill. "Stay put and still, okay? I won't tell." He said. She nodded, and he closed the steel door, leaving her alone in the darkness.

She heard the sounds of the trucks coming closer, and almost screamed with fear when she heard them stop in front of the house. She heard the young man approach the Nazis, and they started to have a conversation. She heard one of the Nazis speaking.

"We are sorry to bother you, but have you seen a teenage girl come by this way? She has escaped from the ghetto and we must have her back immediately."

She prayed that the young man hadn't lied, and wouldn't tell them where she was. "Yes," he responded, and Eliza's breath caught in her throat. He continued. "But she ran right past here. I think she was headed for Bielsko-Biala. I heard that there are a large group of Jews there."

Eliza breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. He didn't expose her after all. She wondered why. "Thank you for your information. Goodbye." The Nazi spoke curtly. She heard the sounds of car doors slamming, engines starting and trucks driving away. And then, saw the dull gray light peek in through the doors, which her savior was holding.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! BTW, next chapter will be from Alexander's POV.**


	2. To Take Refuge

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Hamilton. All rights go to Lin-Manuel Miranda.**

 **Alexander POV**

Alexander's father had always hated Jews. Despised them. _Filth_ , he would sneer _. Absolute filth. Worst specimen of humans out there._

He claimed that they stole all of his business away from him, but then again, Alexander hardly knew any Jews who were farmers. But again, his father also hated Nazis. He was incredibly angry that they had sectioned off such a large area of town, just for Jewish people.

Alexander tried to tell him that it wasn't like they wanted to live there; they were forced to, but he never listened to him anyway. Alexander couldn't see why he hated Jewish people. They were still people, they just believed in certain things that some people did not. His father was a very harsh, opinionated, and cruel person.

His mother on the other hand, was a saint. She loved everyone, despite what they believed in. Despite their race or gender. His mother was so good inside and his father so bad, that most of the time, he wondered why she ever had married him.

Alexander speculated that he used to be different. Not so full of so many negative and hateful opinions. She used to tell him stories about what he used to be like, before he was a monster.

"He was so kind and thoughtful, Alexander. He treated me like I was royalty." She stared off into space, as if she was in another world.

He could not resist asking. "And then what happened?" She sighed and looked away, leaving his question unanswered. That question would haunt him. How could his father change so drastically, according to what his mother had said. The question still remained unanswered. It always remained unanswered.

She never liked to talk about these things anymore. There was pain in her eyes. It was faint, very difficult to see, but it was there nonetheless. Alexander knew that his mother wanted to leave his father, but she never would, nor could.

His mother didn't work, that was the main reason. She didn't have a very good education, she had left school at a very early age to marry Alexander's father. But besides from that, she was just so… empty. It was like his father had drained the life out of her. She would just nod when asked to do something, and when asked a question, shake her head no, or nod her head yes.

Since he could no longer talk to his mother, and there was no way he would want to talk to his father, he turned to writing. He wrote down anything he could. Stories, letters, journal entries, anything to keep his mind off of the war going on outside the four walls of his bedroom.

Alexander had graduated school, so he couldn't even do his schoolwork to distract himself, so he continued to write. Day after day, night after night, hour after hour. Alexander only really came out of his room when his mother made him food.

He and his mother would eat together, while his father would take his meals in his study and wait for my mother to collect his dishes. When Alexander thought about it too much he hated him. He really hated him. Alexander was also almost positive that his father hit his mother.

The fear in her eyes when his father got angry at he. Alexander clenched his hand into a fist and tried not to think about that anymore. The days had strung together since he had started holing himself up in his room all day, and he expected them to continue as such. The same day, over and over again. The same boring, boring life.

It was the same boring routine. About noon. He and his mother were eating potato stew, all that they could afford with wartime rations, when an extremely loud and fast knock sounded at the door. Alexander and his mother froze, for fear of it being Nazis at the door. His father had made it extremely clear that no one answer the door apart from the man of the house.

 _Please,_ Alexander had thought at the time. _He is not a man. If he were a man he would protect his family. Not curl up into a ball and hide like a child. He is a defenseless coward. Nothing but a coward._

But at that moment, he couldn't think of that. Fear curled its way up his spine. They would break down the door, destroy their house, and maybe even abduct them. What if they would steal any of their possessions? Or take their entire house, for that matter?

He had heard rumours of families being kicked out of their houses to make new soldier's quarters. About ten seconds went by with the house being completely still, and they thought that the threat was over then. Bu then the knocking came again. Faster. Louder. Almost more… urgent?

He heard his father's angry footsteps come down the hall. He was muttering something unintelligible under his breath, a string of curse words and insults were the most likely. This would be fun. He opened the door a crack, and he was so disturbing looking, it actually was quite chilling. A small feminine voice came from outside the door. It sounded scared, desperate even. Alexander made out a:

"Hello sir, I'm so sorry to intrude but I am in dire need of help, if I could just speak to you inside for a momen-" The girl was cut off by his father. This was the wrong man to ask for help from.

"I don't take in strangers off the street. Get off my porch. Now." He seethed. Alexander stood up from his chair then, hoping to get a glimpse without the girl seeing him looking.

He peered around his father's shoulders from afar, and finally caught sight of her. It was hard to make out her face from so far away, but he could see a few details.

Her hair was dark brown, she had a round face with prominent cheekbones, and she was very, very thin. As if she hadn't eaten in days. Maybe she hadn't. She started to speak again, her voice quivering and the look in her eyes was heart breaking.

"Please sir, I just escaped from the Jewish ghetto.. and they're coming for me… I.. just allow me inside for a few moments please.. to hide myself…"

So the girl was a Jewish escapee. That certainly explained quite a bit. The urgency. The desperation. Alexander was so moved, the girl seemed willing to do anything to hide herself. Alexander's father seemed just on the edge of flying into a rage. Just the tiniest shift. Even more so now that he knew she was Jewish.

"I will not allow stupid Jewish filth inside my house. Get away!" He said very firmly, standing up straighter to make himself appear much bigger than he was. Even his own son was taller than him.

The tears started rolling down the girl's face. Her voice was breaking, cracking, pleading. It was horrible to look at, and he wished he could do something.

"Please sir.. they'll… they'll kill me.. please." She begged.

And that was the shift. His father flew into a rage, it seemed that there was even smoke steaming from his ears. "AND THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER WITHOUT YOU! GET AWAY OR I'LL CALL THEM BY THE TRUCKLOAD TO PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOUR HEAD!" He screamed so loud that the dishes on the table rattled.

The girl looked terrified. She ran off the porch, eyes panicking. His father slammed the door, and marched down the hallway to his study. Once he was out of sight, Alexander walked quickly over to his mother, worry in his eyes and hers.

Her kind eyes seemed as if she was thinking about something deeply. She put her hand on his arm. "Go." She said softly, and in that instant, he completely understood. He raced out the side door of the kitchen and over to the mill that they never used anymore.

He pulled at the heavy steel door as hard as he could and it slowly unwillingly opened with a low rumbling noise. Alexander turned to see if he could find the girl. She was standing in the middle of the road eyes closed, waiting for something he couldn't see. Why was she just standing in plain sight? Was she daft?

He called to her as loud as he dared. "Hey!" She looked over at him, her expression desperate, yet unreadable at the same time. She stayed frozen, looking at him. Was she stupid?

"Get over here!" he called, beckoning her over. "Do you want to survive, or not?" He lashed without thinking. Oops. He didn't want to scare the girl, she already seemed shaken to her very core. But his sharp tone had done its job. She snapped out of her trance and ran over to him and into the mill, stumbling, off balance, as she had one large boot on, but the other one missing.

She dashed into the mill and collapsed on the dirt floor. Panting, eyes wide. She really was terrified. Maybe the girl thought that Alexander would turn her in, for money or food or anything. But Alexander wasn't that kind of person. He was kind, loving and trustworthy. He would never even think of doing something cruel. He realized, that he was the exact opposite of his father.

He tried to make his tone as gentle and sincere as possible, while still being firm. "Stay put and still, okay? I won't tell." She nodded her head very slightly and curled up into a tighter ball. Alexander looked into the darkness, sighed, and then closed the door.

He looked down the road, and a few doors down, three German trucks idled while a Nazi was talking to an older man in the front yard. The older man had such a look of fear in his eyes, and it pained Alexander to see someone looking so scared. Alexander went into a rush, trying to make it seem like he was just doing regular yard work.

The trucks went to every house on the street, then inevitably stopped at the Hamilton dwelling. A stone faced Nazi walked out of the truck, eyes searching the property for any sign of suspicion, and Alexander tried his best to stroll casually over to him. On the inside, he was screaming.

"We are sorry to bother you, but has a teenage girl come by this way? She has escaped from the ghetto and we need her back immediately." The Nazi spoke in such a monotone voice, that Alexander wondered if he had ever been able to show expression in his voice.

Alexander tried to make his voice sound strong and confident. It was so hard to lie when you were scared.

"Yes. But she ran right past here. I believe she was headed for Bielsko-Biala. I heard that there are a large group of Jews taking refuge there." He spoke mechanically. He only said this because he knew for a fact that there were no Jewish people whatsoever living in that area. It had been completely evacuated.

There was a beat of silence in which he panicked, fearing that he would not believe him. The Nazi's eyes seemed to be boring into his own. But of course in a haunting monotone voice, he answered.

"Thank you for your information. Good bye." _Yes, a very good bye._ Alexander thought to himself. The Nazi trudged through the muddy grass of the front yard and into the dented truck with the mark of the evil black swastika. Both the officer and the truck driver looked at each other for a moment, said something that Alexander couldn't make out, and drove down the road.

Alexander waited a few moments, until they were out of sight to check on the girl. When it was clear that no one was coming down this lonely, quiet road, he walked slowly to the mill, and wrenched the doors open. In the shadows sat a trembling girl. She lifted her head to look at him, and though she didn't speak, her eyes said everything. They said a million things that couldn't even be put into words. Her eyes said thank you. Her eyes showed endless gratitude. Alexander bent down to go sit next to the girl, but when he sat beside her, she flinched away from him. She thought that she couldn't trust him. Alexander tried to comfort her.

"It's okay. You're safe, and I'm not going to tell, okay?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it lightning fast before any sound could come out. She hid her face in her knees. No response. Alexander tried again to get a response.

"I won't hurt you okay? We're going to make sure that you're safe. That no one will find you here. I'm Alexander. Can you tell me your name?"

She didn't move.

Alexander knew that this was hopeless. The girl needed someone who she could talk to. Someone like his mother. _His mother._

"I'm going to get my mother." He said bluntly, and the girl's head shot up like a rocket, panic in her eyes, and a terrified gasp came out of her mouth.

"No, no." He said quickly. "My mother knows about you. She told me to come and help you. She's very kind, don't worry."

She nodded, and her hand sunk back to her knees with a soft thud. Alexander exited the mill, closed the metal door, and walked into the house. Once he closed the door to the house, his mother rushed up to him, worry in her eyes.

"I saw the trucks." She whispered. "Where's the girl? Did they take her?" Alexander had never seen her so distressed.

"It's okay, Ma. She's in the mill. The trucks came for her, but I led them on a false trail. I doubt they'll be back." He spoke quickly and quietly, not wanting his father to overhear.

"Oh thank the Lord." She breathed. "Did you talk to her at all? What's her name?"

Alexander explained it then. "That's the problem Ma. She wouldn't say anything to me. I think that she thinks that I'm going to hurt her or turn her in, so I need _you_ to go and talk to her."

His mother didn't hesitate. "I'll go. Hold on, I'll need blankets, food, and water-"

"Ma, you're just going to talk to her. Why do you need all of that stuff?" He was so confused.

"Dear, we have to show her that she can trust us. Which reminds me. You are not, under any circumstances, to tell your father about any of this."

"I wasn't planning on it." He responded.

His mother had gathered up a seemingly endless supply of biscuits, two jars of water, five blankets, and several pillows. She looked as if she was leaving for an expedition. In a way, he realized, she was.

She was just about to walk out the door when he remembered something.

"Ma wait." He ran to get the gas lantern from his room. "Here," he said. "It's dark in there." His mother nodded, walked out the door and into the mill, closing the door behind her.

Alexander quickly came up with a cover story if his father were to come down the hallway and notice his mother's absence. He took a sheet of paper from the kitchen counter and scribbled down a note for his father.

 _Father,_

 _Mother had gone out on the usual bus to collect our food rations for the week. Once the bus had arrived, there seemed to be many more people than last week, so I suspect she will be absent for some time._

 _Alexander_

Alexander placed the note on the table, and walked down the hallway, towards his room. He closed the door and let out a big sigh. He slid down the door, put his head into his hands, and just sat in that position for a while.

There was so much to process, and he hadn't even started to do so with any of it yet. He realized then, that the only way he would be able to process this, was to write everything down. Alexander pushed himself up from the ground, and walked over to his desk. He opened the cabinet door, and saw his row of untouched notebooks.

He went to go grab one, but hesitated. The notebooks were massive, but at the moment, he only had five more that were unused, and they could barely afford food, let alone notebooks. Eventually though, he decided that it was necessary to write about his extreme day.

He grabbed the sleek, smooth spine of the book and took it out of the cabinet. He laid it on his desk, opened it to the first page, and grabbed a pencil from the jar resting near the back of the desk. He started to write, and the feeling of letting out the bottled up emotions was amazing. He wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

He actually lost track of the time, because when he heard a knock at his bedroom door, he looked out of his window, and it was dark outside. He stood up and opened the door, and his mother walked into the room briskly, closing the door behind her.

She didn't even wait for him to acknowledge her before she started to speak.

"Her name is Eliza, she's twenty years old, she's lived in Krakow all of her life, but in the ghetto for one year. Her primary language is Polish, but she also speaks German and French."

She put her hand to rest on Alexander's arm.

"She's an incredibly sweet girl, Alexander."

Alexander was astonished. He had barely gotten the girl, _Eliza,_ he corrected himself, to look at him, and his mother had gotten all of that. He voiced this to his mother. "How did you even get her to talk to you?"

"Well, she would barely even look at me when I first came into the mill. I sat down next to her, and firstly, gave her a jar of water. Her eyes widened, glanced over to me, and then back to the water. I said, _It's okay, the water is yours to drink._ She looked at me, and then turned to the water, and drank the entire jar in three gulps. She gave me a small smile once she had finished. She said in an almost inaudible voice, _Thank you._

I asked her if she was hungry, and she spoke a bit louder this time, _Yes, if it's not too much trouble._ I handed her three biscuits, and she ate them so quickly. I asked her when and what she had eaten last and she said, _I ate a watered down chicken broth two days ago._

I felt so much for her, and I told her that she could have as many biscuits as she wanted. She had eaten three more, and then she fell apart. She sobbed for such a long time, and I held her. She calmed down and then she told me everything. She trusted me, because I showed that I cared."

Alexander was a bit hurt. "And she did not trust me, because I did not show that I cared." He sighed.

"Oh, no child." His mother said quickly. "She feels awful that she did not speak to you, this is the reason I am inside now. I came to fetch you. Eliza wants to speak to you."

Alexander started to feel a little bit better about himself after he heard that this was so. "She wants to see… me?" He questioned, and then chuckled at his own uncertainty. "Okay, I'll go."

He exited his room, and walked to the closet where his coat was, and put the thin material around his shoulders. Just before walking out the door, he turned back to his mother. "Ma, are you sure that she wants to see me?" His mother put a hand on his shoulder and spoke reassuringly. "I was with her for hours, son. I'm positive that she would like to see you."

He nodded, and pulled open the faded wood door, stepped through it, and closed it behind him. He walked through the wet, muddy grass, and towards the old wooden mill. He peeked through a crack in the doors, and saw that the inside was no longer pitch black, but illuminated by a soft yellow glow, coming from the gas lantern, he expected. He opened the doors a little bit wider, and it seemed as though the mill had been transformed into a small bedroom. A makeshift bed sat at the rear corner. The bed seemed to be made out of multiple pillows as the base, followed by several blankets, with finally the largest pillow placed at the head of the bed.

He pushed the door open eager to see more, and saw Eliza crouched at the foot of the bed, spreading the blankets out smoothly. As he pushed the door farther open, a creak sounded, and she looked up startled. She saw his face, stood up, rushed over to him, and then collapsed on her knees in front of him, almost in tears.

She was mumbling, "Thank you so much, you saved my life… How can I ever repay you…? I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience…"

Alexander didn't feel worthy to have a person at his knees thanking him, so he bent down to her level and sat on the wood floor.

"I am not the person you should thank," He said. "Why don't we start over, agreed?" Eliza nodded her head and happily said, "Agreed." She stuck out her hand, expecting him to shake it. "Elizabeth Schuyler. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He surprised her to an insane degree when he took her outstretched hand and placed a light kiss on the top.

"Alexander Hamilton. The pleasure is all mine."

And they both shared a blush that put tomatoes to shame.

 **A/N: So, what did you guys think? Should the next chapter be from Alexander or Eliza's perspective? Let me know! I love you!**


	3. To Cower in Fear

**A/N: Sorry there was such a gap in between chapters guys. I was on vacation without my laptop (grrrrrr), so I couldn't write. Oh well! Hope you enjoy this chapter from Betsey's perspective!**

They talked for hours. For so long that Eliza had begun to fall asleep, as her eyes started to close as she listened to Alexander talk.

"I really should go Elizabeth, I've forgotten the time, and you've had a very long day." he said to her. "You look exhausted."

"Alexander, I've already told you, _please_ call me Eliza." She spoke softly to him.

"Well then, I'll get going, Eliza. Sleep well." He told her, pushing himself up from the floor of the mill and turning to leave.

"Likewise." She responded.

A small smiled danced on her lips. As he stepped through the door, closing it behind himself, Eliza threw herself backwards onto her makeshift bed. She laughed, completely filled with joy. She was a mess. She couldn't get his face out of her head. His voice. His _eyes._ This stranger, this stranger who had saved her life, was intelligent, kind, caring, interesting, and _handsome._

So handsome. Those eyes, that smile. Eliza couldn't believe it. Earlier that day, when Mrs. Hamilton, or Rachel, as she had insisted, had told her that she and her son, _Alexander_ , would be taking care of her and hiding her, Eliza didn't know what to say. The most that she thought she would get was a night's rest, but this was something else altogether. They would actually be caring for her. _Eliza._ An eccentric Jewish girl on the run from Nazis. However, this wouldn't exactly be her first time on the run.

She had never really had a mother or father to take care of her, her parents and younger sister Peggy had all died from a sickness when she was very young. So from that point on, it had always been Angelica and Eliza. Just the two of them out there, fending for themselves.

They had lived with a terrible, abusive aunt until Angelica was nineteen, and they both ran away to live with a friend that Angelica had met at school. They lived in his flat for a few years with no rent, or pay of any kind, and it was a comfortable situation. In that way, at least.

From the second Thomas saw Eliza, he was head over heels. Her dark hair and eyes attracted him to her, but he wished more than anything in the world that she reciprocated his feelings.

She didn't.

Eliza had thought that Thomas was kind and handsome of course, but she never saw him as more than a brother. Eliza knew about his feelings towards her, of course, but made it very clear that she did not feel the same way towards him. He always seemed to look at her in a way that made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. His eyes would look up and down her body, and the way he looked at her was less in a way of admiration, and more so in a way of a predator stalking his prey.

Eliza remembered that they would go to the market together to pick up food, and Eliza would make polite conversation with the salesperson who just happened to be a male. Thomas would quickly pull her away, and tell her that she was acting like a whore. That talking to men other than himself was dangerous and loose.

" _Thomas, I don't understand what I did wrong I was just-"_

" _No Eliza, it's dangerous and unattractive. Not to mention unladylike."_

" _I was just being polite!"_

" _Being polite, Eliza, or being whorish?"_

The only one who did not know about Thomas' feelings was Angelica. She seemed to be completely oblivious. And Eliza did not want to interfere with her sister and Thomas' friendship, nor did she want to get kicked out of the apartment that they shared. Eliza shivered then, remembering the night when everything had gone to hell.

 _Eliza was sitting in her room in the spacious flat that she now lived in, reading one of Austen's novels. She couldn't believe that she had never read it before. The romance in the book was so strong that it seemed to be floating off of the pages, and forming an image that she could see so clearly right in front of her eyes. The passion that the two lovers shared was unbelievable._

 _It was so powerful, so moving. She was about to turn to the next chapter when a knock sounded softly at the door. Expecting that it was Angelica coming to tell her to get to bed, to put the book away. Eliza knew that Angelica wouldn't stop bothering her if she wasn't permitted inside the room so she quietly called._

" _Come in."_

 _The door opened quite quickly and she was startled to see Thomas enter the room, closing the door hastily behind him. Although the door was now closed, he still remained facing the door, his back towards Eliza._

 _Eliza rose from her cross-legged position on the bed in an attempt to be more level with him, but he still towered over her._

 _His behaviour was frightening to her, and when she spoke her voice came out breathy and shaken._

" _Thomas?" she spoke softly. "It's very late, what are you doing here?"_

 _He turned to her, a sly smirk gracing his features, and the bags under his eyes were extremely evident, but the eyes themselves were dark and stormy. Eliza shivered out of fright, and he chuckled._

" _God Eliza, you look like you've seen a ghost," he chuckled, stepping closer and putting his hand on her delicate waist._

 _She flinched at such close contact, and her eyes widened. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Thomas placing a finger over her lips. She tensed._

" _Shhhh. It's just me, Eliza. Just me." He whispered._

 _She quickly spun away from his contact, crossing the room before looking at him. The smirk on his face was still evident, despite just being rejected. But there was something else in his eyes. She couldn't place it, though. Determination?_

" _Thomas," she spoke in a small quivering voice. "Would you care to tell me what you're doing in my room at this hour?"_

" _Eliza, I think we both know why I'm here, and what I want."_

 _He took the few steps towards her, closing the distance between them, and wrapped his arm around her neck forcing her to look him in the eyes. What was in those eyes? Anger?_

 _Eliza removed his arm from around her neck, and briskly walked to the other side of the room trying to understand what was happening._

" _Thomas, you're scaring me. And no, I don't know why you're here, or what you want." She said the words with such venom that she even surprised herself._

" _Eliza-" he began to step towards her, but she sharply cut him off._

" _Stay right there." She said sharply. "You can explain things to me from where you are right now."_

 _His eyebrows raised up on his face, and his hands came up in front of him in a sign of surrender._

" _Okay, okay." He stated simply. "Eliza you know how I feel about you, I've made it very clear. But you keep fighting your feelings. I can_ see _it in your eyes. I know you have feelings for me. It can't be possible that you don't." He stated simply._

 _Eliza scoffed at his cockiness. A feeling so great overcame her, and she could not restrain herself for any longer. Eliza was normally a selfless and kind person, but this man had made her see red._

" _Well, Mr. Jefferson, I hate to inform you of this, but some women simply do not have feelings for you. Myself included." She attempted to say as calmly as possible._

" _Eliza, please. Just give me a chance. Give me a chance to show you how much I love you." He took a step closer to her and in response she took a step backwards, leaving her back pressed to the wall._

" _Thomas, no. I do not have feelings for you. None. Get that drilled into your head. You're scaring me." She growled at him._

 _His eyes turned darker even. The eyes. Was it frustration?_

" _Eliza. Just let me show-" He spoke exasperatedly, patience quickly running out._

" _Thomas, if that implies what I think it does, nothing could repulse me more. Now, if you refuse to leace my room, I guess I'll just have to leave myself." She spat._

 _She turned on her heel to leave for Angelica's room when his large hand wrapped around her forearm, pulling her into his chest. He moved his hand to put one on the small of her back, and the other behind the back of her neck, roughly holding her in place, preventing her from moving._

 _He lowered his face so it was right in front of her ear._

" _Elizabeth, I am done waiting. I am done being kind. I am done being gentle. You're mine." He whispered, his voice low and gravelly._

 _He started to kiss the spot behind her ear rather forcefully, leaving dark purple marks there, and realizing what was about to happen, Eliza panicked and did even more to protest against what he was doing._

" _Thomas." She pushed against his torso forcefully. "Stop it. I don't want this." She whisper-yelled, not wanting to wake their neighbours, or God forbid, Angelica._

 _Thomas didn't show any sign of response to this and just moved lover down her neck. If anything, he started to kiss her even more roughly. Eliza pushed against his shoulders, harder now, attempting to pry herself out of his grasp, but to no avail._

 _When he felt her push again, he tightened his grip on the back of her neck, sending a painful shock through her. The spots where his fingers were pressing in would be sure to bruise._

" _You're not going anywhere. I told you I'm done waiting." The chill in his voice sent a tremor through her body. All of a sudden, without even looking at his eyes, she knew that the answer to what was lying behind the dark orbs was lust._

 _Pure and simple lust. Not anger, frustration, or anything else. Lust. This could not be happening to her. She needed to get out. Before anything got out of hand._

 _While thinking of this, she had yet to notice that the hand that was once resting on the small of her back was now undoing the ties at the back of her nightdress. His other had drifted in a southern direction towards her most intimate place, and started to move her nightdress to the side._

 _She couldn't help what happened next. It was a knee jerk reaction. Literally. Instinct took over. As he reached to undo the second tie and she felt his hot skin graze over her exposed back, her knee just flew up. And then to hell with neighbours, she screamed._

 _Thomas let out a grunt of pain and crumpled over into a ball, and while she ran out of the room, and into the main living space she continued to yell._

" _Someone, please help me! Angie help! Anyone, Please just help me!"_

 _She ran straight for Angelica's room, but was stopped by a hand grabbing her calf and pulling her left leg out from underneath her. She landed flat on her face and her nose immediately started gushing dark blood onto the plush white carpet, staining it permanently. A shooting pain erupted in the side of her head, and it was only after the blow took place when she realized that it had been caused by a furious Thomas' foot._

" _You bitch!" He screamed. "You're going to pay for that." He said this as he continued to bash her head in, along with her neck and stomach._

 _Eliza's vision was beginning to blur, as black spots swam around in it as well. She couldn't hear as well as she could a couple of minutes ago. She was able to force out a single thought during her torture._

 _He's going to kill me._

 _All of a sudden, the pain stopped, and a large lump slumped to the ground beside her, landing with a thump. It was Thomas. She used all of her energy and lifted her eyes to see Angelica standing behind where Thomas was, holding the blunt end of a candlestick with a look of utmost rage on her face._

 _Her face softened when she looked down at Eliza and instead of rage, a look of concern slowly took form on her face. Her eyes widened, and from this, Eliza suspected that she didn't look her best. Her head was throbbing uncontrollably, sending fierce shockwaves of pain throughout her entire body, and everything she could feel simply ached._

 _Angelica held out her hands to her and helped her up. Eliza took her hands and first, scooted around the unconscious Thomas. At first, she wobbled when she stood, but eventually her balance settled and she looked into Angelica's eyes. Tears began to well up in Eliza's eyes, but Angelica brushed them away with her thumbs. Angelica smoothed Eliza's hair, and then spoke._

" _No time for tears. We need to leave. Pack as much as you can in two minutes."_

 _They raced around the flat as fast as humanly possible gathering clothes, food, and anything else they could fit in their satchels. Time was limited, as Thomas could've woken at any time, and God forbid what would happen if he did awake and they were still there._

 _Just as they were about to close the door to the flat, they could see Thomas start to stir and rub the back of his head, so they down the stairs as fast as humanely possible, and avoided the main roads during their escape._

Eliza pushed the memory to the back of her mind. She really didn't want to think about the events of that horrid night from a few years ago. After all, now she had much more important things to think about. Namely, Alexander. He was unlike anyone she had ever met, and she had all night to think about him. She started to play their entire conversation back in her mind. She closed her eyes and imagined the scene playing out in front of her.

She was helpless.

 **A/N: Thank you guys for your lovely reviews! I love to read them and they make my day. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I will try to get another one out as soon as possible!**


	4. To Be Passionate

The war never let up. The patrols never let up. Tight curfew never let up. Restricted food rations never let up. Alexander's visits to Eliza never let up. It was a daily occurrence. He had barely known her for a week, but it felt like they had been best friends since childhood. Alexander's only way of convincing himself otherwise was due to the fact that Eliza was Jewish and Alexander's father would have never allowed his son any kind of friendship like that. Alexander scowled to himself at the thought. He recalled a fond memory of him speaking to Eliza about her studies.

 _Eliza smiled softly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Alexander, you know that it is highly unlikely that I will ever be able to work after this catastrophe."_

" _But surely you must have some idea of what you would like to do with your life, regarding studies." He pressed her._

 _She let out a deep breath that she didn't realize that she had been holding. "I've always been fascinated with medicine." She braced herself, waiting for his laugh, to tell her that she was ridiculous. But it never came. She glanced up, and he had a soft smile there. Not like he was mocking her, but like he was interested in what she had to say. She continued. "My parents and sist-" She stopped herself, starting to get choked up. "Some family members of mine died from a sickness when I was younger. The doctors said that it was typhoid fever. It was terrifying, really. Watching people you love slowly die off and not being able to do anything about it. So I want to help people and prevent things like unexplainable sicknesses from happening." Realizing that she was rambling, she stopped herself._

 _Alexander's eyes were wide. "Wow. Eliza, that's… that's absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see you become a doctor! You're going to save lives, and perform surgeries, and come up with cures, it's going to be incredible."_

 _Eliza's eyes crinkled and she flashed a bittersweet smile. Alexander's excited mood fell and was replaced quickly with concern._

" _Eliza, what's wrong?"_

" _You're forgetting," She replied slowly. "The Nazis are going to end up catching me." She started to breathe faster, her breaths becoming shallow and rushed. Her head filling with memories of Angelica losing it one day. Screaming that she couldn't take being holed up in the ghetto anymore. Yelling and running for the gate. Elbowing the soldier in the nose and sprinting out. The new came later in the day as a warning to everyone. That they had caught her, and that they had put a bullet through the back of her head. Thinking about this was making Eliza's head swim, her vision had black spots blocking out Alexander and the surrounding mill. She couldn't be fooled by Alexander's optimism. She couldn't help bursting out. "You do realize that they're going to kill me, don't you?" Tears pooled in her eyes, and a few dared to slip down her cheeks._

 _The image of the poor, damaged girl in front of him caused Alexander's heart to stutter. She had seemed so passionate and full of life just moments ago. He wiped the tears from her eyes and held her hand in his own._

" _You're safe here, Eliza. I will make sure nothing ever happens to you."_

Alexander sat at the dining table, a bowl of untouched, watery soup in front of him. He scribbled nonsense in his journal. The house was still. His father had left on a business trip and was scheduled to be gone for a month or so. His mother sat in the corner, sewing with light blue fabric.

"Mother?"

Her head perked up. "Yes darling?"

"What are you making?"

"Just some simple clothes for Eliza. I found this old fabric in the storage closet. You do realize that she's been wearing the same clothes since she arrived here, don't you?" Alexander's eyes widened. Eliza had been staying in the mill for long over a month now. His mother continued. "And God knows how long before that, I figured that some new garments would do her some good."

Alexander absentmindedly stirred the soup in front of him. "Do you think that she's awfully bored in there by herself? There can't be much to do. She already meticulously cleans."

His mother hummed to herself. "Do you have anything that you could take to her? Possibly a textbook? They just sit in your room collecting dust at the moment."

His eyes lit up. "That's right!" He pushed his chair back and raced to his room. He went to his shelf and pulled out the first textbook he saw having to do with medicine. He dusted off the cover with his hand and peered down at the title. _British Red Cross Society._ He was about to head out to mill when he began to think. _I could probably read this in a day. Being all alone with nothing to do, Eliza could probably read this in a few hours._ He turned back to his bookshelf and started to skim through more of the visible titles. One after the other he pulled at least fifteen books out. One caught his eye especially. He remembered Eliza talking about her family. _The Treatment of Typhoid Fever._ He grabbed a satchel and stuffed all of the books into it. He lugged the extremely heavy bag through the house and made it outside where he trudged through the pouring rain.

He arrived at the door of the mill and did the secret knock that Eliza had recommended to him. _So you don't scare me to death, silly._ The door cracked open a little bit, and a nervous looking eye peered up at him, but relaxed when she saw that it was only Alexander. She opened the door fully and ushered him into the warm room. He dropped the bag and she smiled at him, stepping forward and pulling him into a hug. She held on for a few moments, then pulled away. "Hi! I thought that you weren't coming to see me today!"

He smiled warmly at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he did so. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." Eliza walked over to the makeshift bed and sat. He grabbed his satchel and followed her. "So Eliza?"

"Yes?" She answered.

"Well, I was thinking earlier, about how you said that you wanted to be a doctor?" Her eyebrows knit together and she slowly nodded. He continued, a bit nervous. _Why am I nervous?_ He thought. _Why do I care so much about what she thinks of me?_ "So, uh, these are for you." He handed her the bag full of countless textbooks.

She carefully lifted one out, turning it over in her hands, opening it and slowly glancing at the pages. She turned her head to face Alexander, an unreadable expression on her face. "For me?" She whispered. He nodded his head and swallowed thickly. _They're all for you._ She lifted all of the books out of the bag and set them on the floor in front of her.

Without ever taking her eyes off of the books she spoke. "You did this, all of this for me?" She paused before looking up at him. "This is the nicest thing someone has done for me in such a long time. Thank you, thank you so much." He noticed her eyes were starting to appear glassy. Overcome with emotion, he reached forward, and pulled her into an embrace.

"It really means that much to you?" He murmured into her shoulder.

"Of course it does." She pulled away and sniffled. "When my parents died I had to live with my horrible aunt. It was just me and my sister. She was allowed to go to a regular school, because my aunt favoured her, meanwhile I was stuck at her house all day, being _homeschooled._ " She said the word with disgust. "Which basically meant that my aunt would teach me how to be ladylike. I never got a proper education from her. It felt like I was stuck in eighteenth century! My sister, on the other hand, was-" She paused, took a deep breath, and began again. "She would sneak into my room late at night with all of her homework, textbooks, and library books. My sister was the only reason I got an education."

Alexander had always been curious about Eliza's past life and family, but had never had the courage to ask before, in case something would upset her. But now it seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask. The doors were open right now. "Eliza, forgive me for being so curious, but when you spoke of your sister you said _was._ Is she-"

"Yes, she's dead. We had been in the ghetto for some time when it happened. We both woke up in the flat we shared with countless other people. She was shaking me. She said, _Eliza, come with me. We can make it. I can't take being here anymore, please. I can't do it alone."_

Her voice started to quiver.

"I told her that it was too dangerous, and that she was acting crazy."

She started wiping her eyes more frequently now.

"She kissed me on the forehead and told me to walk with her to work. We got to our posts when she grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I told her to let go, and she stopped running."

The tears started to pool in her eyes.

"I guess that pushed her over the edge, and she just started screaming. She ran to the front gate, and the Nazi shot her. They dragged her out and onto the body cart. And they just _rolled her away_."

They started to roll down her cheeks.

"And I feel sorry for myself because I don't have a family. I don't have a family. I think that the entire world is against me. But then I realize that it's _my_ fault. _I_ told her that she was crazy. _I_ said that I wouldn't go with her. _I_ pulled my arm away, and if I hadn't done that, we would have made it out. Angelica wouldn't have died."

She was sobbing.

Alexander pulled her close to his chest and just held her.

"I'll be your family now." He kissed the top of her head, light as a feather.


	5. To Brave the Storm

**A/N:** Hey guys! So I just wanted to explain something about my plans for the story and the structure of it. For any of you who might be wondering, _where is this story going?_ This story is strongly driven by Eliza's memories. By giving her a much different past, I think it changes her character a lot from the original. The events that take place in this story are influenced by the choices that she's made in the past. Just clearing it up for anyone who might have been confused!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything of Hamilton.

Alexander tossed and turned in his bed sheets, willing himself to sleep. He simply couldn't, listening to the eerie sound of the wind howling. Whistling. _Taunting him._ Alexander hated storms with a passion and his anxiety always seemed to come out to play during them. The way that the rain would tap against the roof made it seem the world would cave in around him. The way that lightning would eerily light up the surrounding world, but only for a split second. And the worst was the thunder. How it shook the ground he walked on and seemed to shatter his ears.

It was also incredibly cold and the chill seeped in through the walls and chilled the very bones that made up his body. A shot of guilt went through him as he thought of Eliza. If he was cold, surely she was positively frozen by now. However, his father was currently in the kitchen, even at this ungodly hour of the morning, finishing some last minute paperwork before leaving on a two-month long business trip.

Alexander wished to bring Eliza blankets or tea, or _something_ , but it would be highly suspicious if his father were to see him leaving and heading to the mill at this time. So he was forced to just lie there and suffer. _Suffer,_ he thought to himself. _I haven't suffered a deal of anything in my life. I suppose if Eliza has been through all of that before, she could deal with the cold._ Alexander longed to just go and defy his father, but God knows what happened the last time he did that. Alexander couldn't wait until his father left on his trip. Alone with his thoughts, Alexander thought,

 _This is going to be quite a long night._

Eliza shivered under the thin woolen blankets. The tin mill rattled fiercely in the harsh winds and the frigid air somehow made its way even closer to Eliza. She had been staying in the mill for about a year now. Summer had come and went in the blink of an eye and took its pleasant nights with it in its flee.

Eliza remembered staring up at the roof with Alexander on many occasions, both of them groaning and grumbling and wishing for it to be cooler. It was like a sauna in the mill as the tin walls absorbed the heat from outside and trapped it within. The sweat had dripped down Eliza's face and made her feel sticky and in need of an urgent bathing. She recalled saying to Alexander; _What I would give for it to be winter again._ She chuckled now, remembering this as she lay in the blistering cold. "What I would give for it to be summer again." She said to herself quietly.

After quite a long while, the wind became almost like a haunting lullaby to her, and thoughts became muddled as her body allowed itself to be succumbed to sleep.

" _Eliza please!" Her mother called after Eliza, who had skipped too far ahead to be easily seen. "Stay where I can see you darling!"_

 _With a groan Eliza slowed down, but could not stay glum for long. The sun baked down on her and the breeze was just pleasant enough that she did not feel overheated. What surrounded her was a lush canopy of emerald green trees, brightly coloured birds chirping and swooping above her, and wild mushrooms growing on the sides of trees and rocks. The way that this section curved into almost a sheltered tunnel made Eliza feel as if she were some sort of fairy that she had read about in a favoured story book of hers. She hummed a tune to herself as she merrily walked along one of the trails of the Białowieża Forest. Her parents had decided to vacation there, knowing how much their children loved the outdoors. To say that Eliza was enjoying herself would be an understatement. To have her first vacation here! She was filled to the brim with joy._

 _They had already seen so many amazing things in their short time there. Many different animals, but mostly the bison that abundant there, and fascinating insects, including dragonflies, which Eliza was especially fond of. But what Eliza loved most of all was the scenery. The massive boulders and tress accompanied by the massive fields of wildflowers that Eliza would have happily immersed herself in all day._

 _She especially loved the willow trees that they had seen when passing through a swampy part of the forest. Most of the family had walked right through the swamp, claiming that there were too many mosquitoes and gnats for them to handle, but Eliza had wanted to see the weeping willows up close and had wanted her father to accompany her. He had hoisted her up on his shoulders and trekked through the mud. Eliza grabbed the hanging leaves off the trees and tied it around her hair, creating a bow._

" _Papa, look at my hair!" She giggled, tossing her hair dramatically. "Do you like it?" She said leaning down so that her face was at level with his, and holding the willow dramatically._

" _You look beautiful, darling." He cooed, placing her back on the ground. She laughed, hiding her blushing face and running farther ahead, past the rest of her family and onwards down the stream side path._

 _She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and spin her in the air from behind. She playfully shrieked, a huge smile evident on her face, knowing that she wasn't truly in any danger. She turned her head slightly and saw a familiar mass of dark curls. "Angie!" She laughed. "Let me down!"_

 _She was brought to the ground and Angelica turned Eliza to face her. "There you are, silly!" She said, tucking a stray group of hairs behind Eliza's ear. "We can't have you running off like that, monkey, okay? You're going to scare mama and papa!" She said playfully._

" _Okay, Angie," Eliza said, not really listening. "But you have to see me!" Eliza tugged Angelica forward, holding her hand. She dragged her around a curve in the path to where an archway of trees stood. "Angie look!" She turned to Angelica and slowly fluttered her arms, standing on her tiptoes._

" _My name is Elizabeth, and I live in 'The Valley of Color Days'." She said in an airy high-pitched voice, pretending to be a fairy from one of her books. She moved up and down slowly, still fluttering her arms extended outwards from her, trying to create the illusion that she was flying._

 _Eliza saw that Angelica wasn't really looking at her and was curious why. She_ always _played make believe with her. Instead, Angelica was looking at a magnificent dragonfly that was perched on her wrist. Eliza slowly 'fluttered' over to Angie to also look in awe at the insect. Angelica saw her interest and smiled, deciding to play along with Eliza._

" _Why look what we have here! One of my beautiful dragonfly friends! He must want to go see a lovely fairy, like you, Elizabeth. Here, stretch your finger out."_

 _Eliza giggled and reached out her hand, with her pointer finger extended. Angelica slowly moved her wrist closer to Eliza's finger. The dragonfly cautiously moved from Angelica to Eliza, and once inspecting the environment, it decided to rest there._

" _My goodness, Elizabeth, it loves you!" Said Angelica. "Well, I suppose it would love a beautiful fairy much more than a simple commoner, like me." She said, playing into the game, and tugging at the willow leaves that had formed a bow at the back of her ponytail._

" _No!" Protested Eliza, flinging her arms down to her sides, causing the dragonfly to fly away. "Angie, you can be a fairy too! Just wait here!" And with that, she headed out into the field of wildflowers and quickly got to work. Angelica watched her with an amused smile on her face. The look of concentration on her little face was adorable as she focused on picking what she viewed as the best flowers. Once she had her bouquet, she set to twisting them all elaborately together to form a rather large flower crown._

 _She skipped out of the field and down to the path, proudly displaying her newly made crown for Angelica. "Angie bend your head down!" Angelica smiled and bent her head._

" _I hereby declare thee, Angelica, fairy of 'The Valley of Color Days'!" Eliza announced in a very serious sounding voice, placing the crown of pink and white wildflowers onto Angelica's head. "Angie now you're a fairy too!" She exclaimed._

" _I am indeed, Eliza." She chuckled, fixing her curls and bringing her hair in front of her shoulders. Eliza turned away from Angelica to explore further down the path, but Angelica harshly tugged her back to face her. Eliza noticed that Angelica's smile had hardened quite a bit, instead turning into a cold grimace. "Now we can't have you running off like that again, can we?" She asked pointedly, grabbing Eliza's chin roughly and forcing her to look Angelica in the eye._

 _Eliza squirmed a little in Angelica's hold and physically shrank back a bit. "Ow, Angie. That hurts," She mumbled and turned her head away from Angelica's cold stare slightly, quite embarrassed that she was getting reprimanded in this way. Her pale cheeks noticeably flushed a dark pink and the rest of her face and neck followed suit._

 _Angelica dug her nails into Eliza's chin sharply and turned her head towards her again. "Eliza. Look. At. Me." She growled, announcing each word separately. Her face impossibly blurred and became unrecognizable for a moment. Eliza shivered as Angelica seemed to grow larger and tower over her._

 _Eliza's eyes went wide. "Angelica, you're scaring me." She said, brows furrowing and frown deepening. She turned away and tried to sprint away to her parents, but a strong arm harshly clamped down on her arm and roughly pulled her back._

 _The scene changed around dramatically to not the middle of the Białowieża Forest, but a large bedroom, and was met face to face not with Angelica, but Thomas, yanking the thin night dress off of her body._

Eliza woke up gasping for breath, the world around her spinning. She sobbed into her hands, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She frantically looked around at the surrounding dark aluminum walls. _Real,_ she tried to reassure herself. _This is now, and this is real. That was a long time ago._ She thought that she was safe from everything. The outside world seemed so far away. But this had reminded her that she couldn't escape from the demons that dwelled inside of her. The demons that were trying to crawl out and were threatening to destroy everything she once knew.

The official looking paper stuck to the only bulletin board in the drafty train station. It warned to be on the lookout for 'the troublesome Jew'. Suspected criminal's names and sketches accompanied the notice.

A man stood in front of that list, concentrating so hard on it that it seemed like he was studying it. His dark eyes raked down the list and stopped dead when they saw a specific name and face to match. He briskly marched out of the ticket office and into the storm, rain boots splashing in the shallow puddles that filled the potholes on the abandoned street. He marched up to the only thing resembling a decent place to stay in the small town.

His intense stare frightened the girl sitting at the desk. Her nametag read _Maria._ "Is there any room available?" He asked with a cold chill in his voice.

"Um, y-yes. There's room. Um n-name?" She stammered, obviously uncomfortable.

He gave his name and was given the key to his room straight away. He dropped his tattered rucksack onto the floor and flopped onto his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. No coherent thoughts ran through his head except for one phrase that he seemed to repeat like a mantra.

 _But is it her but is it her but is it her but is it her_

She had to be in town somewhere. She couldn't have gone far. He needed her. He needed her back in his control and he would not let her get away like that again. Never again.

 **A/N:** Please review! It helps me get through writer's block and gets chapters out sooner. I always want to know what you think of the story! Love you all!


	6. To Meet Monsters

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Hamilton.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, his father had finished packing his things and went out of the front door, slamming it behind him as he went. Alexander let out a quiet sigh of relief. His father would be gone for two months. Two glorious months. Two months where there wouldn't be fighting or scolding, or just his cold presence. He knew that some of his colleagues were escorting him to the train station in their car, where he would take a train to Austria. Alexander prayed that he would stay away for good.

In the morning, Alexander walked to kitchen to find his mother sitting at the kitchen table, reading her novel. Her thin-rimmed spectacles were pushed down almost to the tip of her nose, and her hair was in its usual rolled style upon her head. Alexander had always known that his mother was quite beautiful. When she had come to his school in the car to pick him up most days, he could see the stares of multiple men's eyes upon her. Some would try to talk to her as she sat in the car waiting for him. If and when he would walk out of the school building and see a strange man talking to her, his blood would boil. His incredibly juvenile and rude classmates would jeer at him and taunt him about his mother's many admirers.

" _Alex, who did your mother bring home last night?"_

" _What a nice outfit your mother's wearing today, Alex. I see someone who likes it."_

" _What's it like having a whore as a mother, Alex?"_

He had been able to keep his rage in check. Most of the time. He had been suspended from school on a number of occasions. His father would almost beat him to death every time. His father would _somehow_ find a way to blame his wife for his son's behaviour.

" _He obviously gets it from you, Rachel! How can you continue to allow him to act like this?"_

" _I'm sorry, I-I'll try harder, James."_

" _Enough with the excuses!"_

" _I'm truly sorry—"_

He shivered, remembering. His mother looked up when she heard him enter. "Hello darling." She gave him a small smile, but it was laced with traces of confusion. "Where's Eliza?"

Alexander was puzzled. "What do you mean?" Had his mother forgotten that Eliza had always remained in the mill?

"Did you not bring her in last night? Your father is gone for now."

"Oh. I didn't really think of bringing her in, to be honest." He said sheepishly.

"So she's been freezing in that damned mill all night?" She said, standing up and making her way towards the door. "I will never understand the ignorance of some men." She said quietly as she walked towards the mill.

* * *

Eliza knew that she looked terrible. She had not been able to get to sleep after the horrible nightmare she'd had. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had just seen _his_ face. Her eyes felt dry and bloodshot. Her hair was sticking up everywhere due to her tossing and turning. And she knew, for a fact, that she smelled _revolting_. She had not been able to bathe in a week, at least. Normally, she could bathe every few days due to Mr. Hamilton being at work during the day. But since he had been home during the day in the last week preparing for his business trip, she had been unable to go inside the house. She turned to her makeshift bed of blankets and started to tidy them. She was halfway finished with her job when she heard the door creak open slightly. She froze in fear, scared stiff. She knew that Mr. Hamilton was leaving today. Had he come to check on something in the mill? Eliza hoped that if she stayed still enough, he would look right through her.

"Eliza?" A soft voice said tentatively, and a warm, familiar face came into her view.

Eliza relaxed. "Rachel! And ran to hug her. Just before she came to close, though, she remembered herself and stopped. "Oh, I probably shouldn't hug you." She said embarrassed, casting her gaze down on the floor. "It has been quite a while since I've washed."

Rachel only smiled and shook her head. "Eliza, dear, you're forgetting that I raised _Alexander._ If I can hug him, I can hug anyone." She said, chuckling. Eliza smiled shyly and put her arms around her.

"Now, since my husband has left on his trip for a period, you shouldn't be staying in this drafty tin can! Come dear, we'll get you washed up and find a place for you to stay inside." Rachel grabbed Eliza's hand and began to pull her out of the mill.

"A-Are you sure?" Eliza stammered. "I mean, I'm perfectly fine just staying where I am, I wouldn't want to impose or inconvenience you…" She babbled on.

Rachel dismissed her with the shake of a hand. "Hush now. My house is your house."

Eliza stepped out of the mill and into the dull gray light. She blinked, wishing for her eyes to adjust faster to the light.

When they entered the house Eliza saw Alexander sitting at the table in the kitchen eating porridge for his breakfast. She flushed deep red when he saw her come in. He smiled gently at her. What he must have thought to see her _like this!_ She walked faster to the bathroom to hide her face from his wide eyes.

* * *

The feeling of sinking into the tub filled with warm water calmed Eliza's whole body. She didn't let herself think, or process of calculate. She just willed her mind to be _silent_. The warmth drove out the chill that had been resting since last night.

Next to her, on a stool, Rachel was sorting her blankets and clothes into baskets to be washed. Despite her inner self screaming at her to just relax, not to think, she _was_ curious about one thing.

"Rachel? Forgive me, but I've seemed to have lost track of the day. What's the date?"

Without pausing her job to look up, Rachel calmly answered. "February twentieth, dear."

Eliza froze, then remembered herself. She took a shaky breath and let out an almost inaudible, "Thank you."

 _February twentieth. Angelica's birthday._

* * *

Alexander wanted to make today special for Eliza. She could finally stay in the house with them and he wanted her to be happy. He sat at his desk in his room waiting for her to be done washing and dressing. To pass the time he decided to write. These thoughts had been clamoring about in his headfor months on end, and he _needed_ to put them down.

 _I've realized, that if Eliza is happy, I am happy. When she's upset, I feel it too. When she's upset I want her to know that I care. She's unlike anyone that I've ever met. Intelligent, funny, charming, kind, and I could go on and on about the little things that make her who she is. The way that when she laughs, the corners of her eyes crinkle. She's so breathtakingly beautiful when she lets her guard down and isn't so reserved. When she's telling me something of her past, it's like she's really in that time. She becomes so animated and when she smiles at me, and it makes my heart flutter. I've never experienced that with anyone before. She makes me feel so alive. When she talks of her passions in medicine and health she becomes so serious. She inspires me to be better. I often wonder, how can someone who's been through so much still put on a happy face? I know that behind that mask that she constantly wears, she's hurting. When I see her cry, I just want to take her in my arms to ease her pain. I so desperately wish that I could take on some of her pain, because she carries too much pain with her every day. I wish that I could tell her how I feel, but I'm so afraid that she doesn't feel the same way about me. I can't be so arrogant to believe that someone as selfless and caring as her could ever feel that way about someone like me. In truth, no matter how much I wish I could be for her, the truth is I just want her to be happy. The truth is, I lov_

A knock sounded at his door, and he jumped, stuffing the notebook into a backpack. "Uh, come in." He said in a small voice.

Eliza stepped into the room, smiling. Her hair had been pulled up into a half-up half-down hairstyle. She was wearing a simple light blue dress. "Hi! How did you sleep?" She said warmly.

He gave her a small smile in return. "Not very well," he admitted. "It was incredibly cold. I felt so sorry for you. Did you sleep okay? Any nightmares?" He said sincerely. He knew of Eliza's tendencies to have nightmares when she was alone.

"Oh, the cold is nothing I can't handle. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the Dutch textbook you lent to me. I've always wanted to learn how to speak Dutch!" She gushed.

"Don't think anything of it. All of the books on my shelf are just collecting dust anyway." He shrugged. He noticed that she had ignored the second part of his question. Before he could pry though, she spoke.

"So are we doing anything exciting today?" She said, smiling. "Board games? Or a _craft_?" She asked stressing the word, knowing much he hated meticulous tasks like crafts.

He smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I had something very exciting in mind."

"Do tell."

"Well, my mother is taking the bus to the market today, and she'll likely be gone for a few hours. So I was thinking, how about we go on a drive?"

"What?" Eliza exclaimed, her eyes wide. She didn't even know they had a car. "But Alex, going out in public… Some people might still be looking for me! What if someone sees me, and then they see _you_! I could ruin your whole family's lives!"

"Eliza, calm down." He reassured her. "Almost no one lives out here. And if they see you, what are the chances that they're going to know that it's you?" He said calmly, taking her hand. "Just think about it! You and me, on the open road!" He smiled at her. "It would only be for half an hour." He pleaded. "Come on, Eliza."

She pursed her lips, thinking about it. Finally she gave a long sigh of defeat. "Alright, fine."

He cheered, quite loudly.

She put a finger to his lips. "Shh! _Only_ for half an hour. Got it?"

"Got it." He said the sound muffled by Eliza's finger.

She turned and walked out of the room, presumably to talk to his mother. Once she had left, he touched the spot where her finger had rested. His lips seemed to be tingling, and he hoped that they would never stop.

* * *

Once his mother had left on the bus for the market, Alexander grabbed his backpack, filled it with sandwiches, two glass jars filled with water, and a warm blanket. He took Eliza's hand and led her to the back of the house where the car was kept.

A grassy spot below the massive oak tree in the backyard where they kept the rusted old 1926 Hillman. Even though the car was now a complete rust bucket, Alexander vividly remembered when the car was new and playing on the shiny seats. He remembered sitting on his mother's lap in the driver's seat and grasping the glossy steering wheel of the interior. He remembered touching the shiny dark blue paint on the sides and declaring that it was his new favourite colour. He loved to honk the loud and piercing horn, which of course drove his father up the wall. He would dream of the day when he would be old enough to drive the car himself.

"Now, I know it's not much." He explained as they walked towards it. "But we've never once had a problem with it, so," he paused to pat the side and open the passenger door for Eliza. "You're in good hands." They both chuckled as Eliza settled in her seat. Alexander came around to the other side, got in, and jammed the key into ignition, starting the car.

They drove away from the property and down the open road, past miles and miles of random countryside and fields. Eliza felt freer now than she had felt for a long time. They chatted comfortably as they drove farther and farther away from the house. Alexander made sure to stay far from main roads and took only side streets. They drove until they had reached a quiet spot under a tree next to the road. They got out of the car and set up their picnic by laying down the blanket and getting their lunch out.

Eliza felt so genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time. So happy that she didn't realize when a jeep pulled up behind their car, and a uniformed men stepped out of it, holding an illustration up in order to see it better. _A Nazi._

Alexander gripped her arm, hard, and Eliza saw what he had seen, and nearly fainted. "Eliza. Gather up the blanket very casually." She nodded slowly, and began to pack up, as if nothing was wrong. After she had placed everything safely in the bag, she put it on her shoulder, and clung to it like it was a lifeline. "Stay behind me, okay?" She nodded, again. They began to slowly make their way to the car. One of the uniformed men took the picture and looked between it and Eliza a few times. His eyes narrowed. Eliza had just stepped into the car, and Alexander had just opened his door when they heard a yell of, "Halt!"

Everything was a blur. Eliza screamed. "Go, go, go!" Doors were flung closed, the key shoved into ignition, and the car lurched forward at an insane speed. The heard yelling from behind them and then the sound of a jeep starting and following them. They raced through the streets, the jeep tailgating them and hitting the bumper, causing both Alexander and Eliza to lurch forward. They took sharp turns, trying desperately to lose them. All Eliza could think was _I can't go back I can't go back please don't let them take me back._

A loud noise resonated in the air and Eliza felt something sharp whizz by her ear and then crack the windshield. _They were firing at them._ After the first shot, all was quiet except for the sounds of the car's engine working its hardest. Then the bullets started pouring on them. Eliza screamed and ducked down. Alexander cursed under his breath, then exclaimed in pain. The sleeve of his gray shirt started to turn a dark red alarmingly fast. Another shot rang out and he screamed as his arm jerked to the side in pain, causing the wheel to turn and the car to lurch to the side, off the road, and down the side of the mountain. Eliza had time only to clutch the backpack as hard as she could between her hands before they hit the ground and all she saw was black.

* * *

Someone was smashing her head open and clawing out her brains. That was the only explanation for the pain that she felt in her head. Far away, she heard voices talking quietly.

 _Down the side… car totaled… trees cushioned… two gunshots… possibly a concussion… absolute miracle._

She felt something cold and wet on her forehead. Acting on instinct, she shied away. "No," She protested, pushing the thing away. The cold thing continued to touch her forehead. She shoved hard and rolled over. "I said _get off_ bastard!" She hid her face in her hands. They would've had to brought her back. Now she would die for sure. She couldn't even bare to look at the face of her captor.

"Eliza, that's not a very nice way to greet your sister."

She opened her eyes at last, whirled around, and came face to face with _Angelica_.

Everything went black once more.

 **A/N:** Guys, I'm getting seriously discouraged by the lack of reviews that I'm receiving. For those of you who review and leave feedback, I truly appreciate it! It helps me to become a better writer. I _want_ to know what you think and how you're finding the story. I'm considering abandoning this story if I don't receive more feedback because it's hard to stay motivated without your lovely reviews. I don't bite! Tell me what you think because I want to know if my readers are enjoying my story.

Much love,

Nicole


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